State's Terror Untruths

This year's report on "Patterns of Global Terrorism" veers into unreliability and even falsehood. It's a dangerous document likely to harm the war on terrorism.

Each spring, the State Department issues "Patterns of Global Terrorism," its major report on the problem it defines as "premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience."

It's always been a highly politicized document, reflecting the Washington debate and diplomatic imperatives, but this year it has veered into unreliability and even falsehood. It's a dangerous document likely to harm the war on terrorism.

Its problems include:

* Methodology: The State Department uses methods which create the misleading impression that the Middle East is marginal to terrorism.

It does this by counting damage to property the same as damage to people: So of the 346 terrorist incidents logged in 2001, 178 (slightly over half) involved attacks on a multinational oil pipeline in Colombia, suggesting that South America is the overwhelming source of terrorism.

But as the Middle East Quarterly's Martin Kramer puts it, "Obviously, Latin America is not the world's terrorism epicenter, and it is not why you have to take off your shoes at airport departure gates."

It also logs incidents by location, not perpetrator. Thus, Sept. 11 counts as North American terrorism, not Middle Eastern. By this reckoning, a mere 29 incidents took place in the Middle East, compared to 33 in Africa, 68 in Asia, and a whopping 194 in Latin America (remember that pipeline). Of 3,547 deaths last year, a mere 60 lost their lives in the Middle East, compared to 90 in Africa, 180 in Asia, and 3,235 in North America.

* Denial: The overwhelmingly most important sources of terrorism are militant Islam and Palestinian nationalism. (It's noteworthy that in addition to the 3,235 people killed on 9/11, all but one of the other eight Americans who lost their lives in terrorist incidents in the course of 2001 - one each in the Philippines and Saudi Arabia, five in Israel - were murdered by adherents of militant Islam.)

But the report's only allusions to militant Islam are to deny its importance: "The war on terrorism is not a war against Islam." "Adverse mention in this report of individual members of any political, social, ethnic, religious, or national group is not meant to imply that all members of that group are terrorists."

And it includes this quote from a Muslim figure: "Our tolerant Islamic religion highly prizes the sanctity of human life." End of discussion.

* Falsehoods: It is flatly untrue that "Pakistan sealed its border with Afghanistan to help prevent the escape of fugitives." To the contrary, that border was left basically open.

Or this howler: "In the aftermath of 11 September, the United Nations promptly intensified its focus on terrorism, taking steps to provide a mandate for strengthened international engagement in the fight against terrorism." One of those steps, in October 2001, was to elect the Syrian Arab Republic - which the State Department itself considers a terrorist-sponsoring state - to ultra-prestigious membership in the Security Council.

* Whitewashing Palestinian violence: Ever intent on enhancing Yasser Arafat's reputation, State hides his responsibility for terrorism. President Bush may have has accused Arafat of "enhancing terrorism" but State's bureaucrats suppress every piece of the voluminous evidence pointing to this connection.

State pretends the vast majority of Palestinian terrorist incidents simply did not happen.

Worse, State pretends the vast majority of Palestinian terrorist incidents simply did not happen. It defines "significant international terrorist incidents" as ones involving major property damage, abduction or kidnapping, loss of life or serious injury, or the foiled attempt at any of these, and in 2001 it found 123 incidents worldwide that meet this criteria. Of those, a mere 11 concerned violence against Israelis.

But when the Independent Media Review and Analysis applied State's criteria to anti-Israel violence, its scrupulous research found 97 attacks on Israel that fit this definition.

The U.S. government asserts that Palestinian atrocities against Israel made up just 9 percent of the world's serious terrorist incidents in 2001, but in fact they constituted 46 percent of them.

In all, this document reflects a mentality in Washington of reluctance to confront unpleasant realities. The danger is clear: He who fools himself about his enemy in time of war is likely to lose that war.

The opinions expressed in the comment section are the personal views of the commenters. Comments are moderated, so please keep it civil.

Visitor Comments: 9

(9)
Gerald Lynch,
June 25, 2014 3:59 AM

Open yr eyes Ben

don't know where you live Ben, but not the South of Israel to be sure. The overt anti-semitism in all of Europe and in a vast area of the rest of the world is all without base or cause, but hypocritically supposedly supportive of the manifestly terrorist saturated populations of those that mistakenly call themselves Palestinian. Until the kill-crazy blood soaked mentality of those militant Islamist is changed and while their acts of murderous insanity are sanitized by almost all of the world outside Israel nothing will change, till they themselves become the victims of the virulence the excuse today.

(8)
Anonymous,
August 28, 2002 12:00 AM

911 Human error

I spoke to a Combat Expert, and former Army Pilot and Pilot trainer. I was informed that the results of the 9-11-01 attacks were in fact the result of Pilot error.

I was told the Pilot/Copilot should have never opened the cockpit door. It was also explained to me how the passager area of the plane could have been depressurized. Lowering the pressure of the cabin while keeping the pressure up in the Cockpit would have made the door almost impossibile to breach. It would have made the task of breaking down the door almost impossibile due to the physial pounds of pressure per square inch, and the difficulity of trying to do this while fighting for oxygen. The hijackers would have at best would have had to make short attempts after breathing from the oxygen masks near the seats which are not located near the door.

(7)
Anonymous,
June 5, 2002 12:00 AM

Totally agree with the conclusion

If you take a stand on an issue you can not wobble on the issue. It has to be direct, express and unwavering. Otherwise the message you send will be one of acquiescence.

(6)
James Gonzalez,
June 4, 2002 12:00 AM

Truths

Now it's the time for the people of the whole world get a real information about who is who in the terror factory land, now it's the time for Israel to show to the media that the terror it's begin with the "palestinians" the whole world needs to know this truth.

(5)
Anonymous,
June 4, 2002 12:00 AM

Terrorism

Has anyone sent or provided this information to the United States? Also, don't forgot the amtrax victims that showed up after the Sept. 11 incident or the numberous reports that the United States will be hit again.

(4)
Ben Weitzmen,
June 3, 2002 12:00 AM

Stop saying Bad things

I'm jewish and i don't like this article attackiNG Islam. Stop making it look like Islam is the evil thing. There is terror in every religion. Lets not be so one sided.

(3)
Nelson Kieff,
June 3, 2002 12:00 AM

State Department is Ken Boulding's denial of reality.

The assessment is too gracious in criticizing the objective truth and not the State Department's underlying "mens
rea." The effort in the Report is too protect their favorites.

(2)
Esther G. Senft,
June 3, 2002 12:00 AM

Continue exposing the truth!

Great job, Mr. Pipes - and three cheers, Aish, for posting this article on this site! It is a wonderful thing when people and organizations are willing to tell the truth on things!

(1)
Anonymous,
June 3, 2002 12:00 AM

Appalled at the kind of reporting by State.

You can do anything with numbers and the State Department seems to have cornered the market on mis-information.

I want to know about the concept of "sin" due to Adam and Eve eating from the Tree of Knowledge. The Christian concept of sin revolves around the fall of the man and the "original sin." Does Judaism view it the same way?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Adam and Eve were punished according to their actions. In other words, God laid down the conditions for Adam and Eve to live in the garden, provided they would not eat from the Tree of Knowledge. However, if they were to eat from that tree they would be punished by experiencing death. (If they had not eaten from the tree, they would have remained immortal.)

This sets down the basic principle in Judaism of Reward and Punishment. Basic to this is that every person has the choice of doing good or bad. When a person chooses "good" – as defined by God – he is able to draw close to God. In other words, every individual has a chance to "gain salvation" through his own actions.

My understanding of Christianity, however, is that the Original Sin has infected all of mankind to the point where individuals are incapable of achieving salvation through their own initiative. Man is "totally depraved" and therefore his only hope of salvation is through the cross.

This belief is contrary to the teachings of Judaism. From the Torah perspective, an individual does not need to rely on anyone else to atone for them. In Judaism, sins can be "erased" altogether by sincere repentance and a firm resolution never to repeat the mistakes.

For more on this, read "Their Hollow Inheritances" by Michael Drazin – www.drazin.com

Yahrtzeit of Moses in 1273 BCE (Jewish year 2488), on the same day of his birth 120 years earlier. (Consequently, "May you live to 120" has become a common Jewish blessing.) Moses was born in Egypt at a time when Pharaoh had decreed that all Jewish baby boys be drowned in the Nile River. His mother set him afloat in a reed basket, where he was -- most ironically -- discovered by Pharaoh's daughter and brought to Pharaoh's palace to be raised. When Moses matured, his heart turned to aid the Jewish people; he killed an Egyptian who was beating a Jew, and he fled to Midian where he married and had two sons. God spoke to Moses at the Burning Bush, instructing him to return to Egypt and persuade Pharaoh to "let My people go." Moses led the Jews through the ten plagues, the Exodus, and the splitting of the Red Sea. Seven weeks later, the Jews arrived at Mount Sinai and received the Torah, the only time in human history that an entire nation experienced Divine revelation. Over the next 40 years, Moses led the Jews through wanderings in the desert, and supervised construction of the Tabernacle. Moses died before being allowed to enter the promised Land of Israel. He is regarded as the greatest prophet of all time.

Lack of gratitude is at the root of discontent. In order to be consistently serene, we must master the attribute of being grateful to the Creator for all His gifts. As the Torah (Deuteronomy 26:11) states, "Rejoice with all the good the Almighty has given you." This does not negate our wanting more. But it does mean that we have a constant feeling of gratitude since as long as we are alive, we always have a list of things for which to be grateful.

[Just before Moses' death] God said to him, "This is the Land that I promised to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob" (Deuteronomy 34:4).

The Midrash says that Moses pleaded to live long enough to be able to enter the Promised Land. He surrendered his soul only after God instructed him to enter Heaven and inform the Patriarchs that the Israelites had come to their Land and that God had indeed fulfilled His promise to give the Land of Israel to their descendants. To fulfill God's will was dearer to Moses than his craving to enter the Land.

It is only natural to cling to life, and the thought of leaving this world is depressing. However, if a person develops the attitude that he lives only in order to fulfill God's will, then life and death are no longer polar opposites, because he lives to do the will of God, and when that will requires that he leave this world, he will be equally obedient.

The seventh day of Adar is the anniversary of Moses' death. He wanted to enter the Promised Land so that he could fulfill the commandments and thereby have a new opportunity to fulfill the Divine wish. He surrendered his soul willingly when he was told that there was a special commandment for him to perform, one that could only be achieved after leaving this earth.

We refer to Moses as Rabbeinu, our teacher. He not only taught us didactically, but by means of everything he did in his life - and by his death, as well.

Today I shall...

try to dedicate my life to fulfilling the will of God, so that even when that will contradicts my personal desires, I can accept it with serenity.

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